


A Day at the Beach

by EntreNous



Series: kidverse fics [2]
Category: Angel: the Series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Fluff, Gen, Kid Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-07-12
Updated: 2006-07-12
Packaged: 2017-12-09 09:26:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/772622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EntreNous/pseuds/EntreNous
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cordy's headed to the beach.  When Xander tags along, Spike's left at the Hyperion.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Day at the Beach

**Author's Note:**

> Set in a universe originally devised by margarks, [the kidverse, in which Spike and Xander somehow have been turned into little boys, and live with the Angel Investigations gang.](http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=margarks&keyword=Kid%21verse&filter=all)

“Think Angel got hit in the head extra hard last night, since he gave us all the afternoon off,” Gunn said to Cordy as he rubbed his hands together. “Anyway, I’m thinking of heading down to the ‘hood, checking in with the guys there. Where are you going to hang?”

“The beach,” she answered as she finished sorting the mail. “I need to work on my tan, pronto. Another twelve hour day inside, and I was going to have to start using that tawny spray stuff so no one thought _I_ was the vampire.”

“I like the beach,” a small voice said. Both of them glanced down to see that Xander was standing under the counter, blinking up at them.

“You want to go too, little man?” Gunn asked him. “You could probably use some sun, staying in the hotel all the time.”

“Can I?” Xander asked hopefully. He ran up to them and bounced a little in his sneakers. “I’d bring all my own toys and wouldn’t use any of yours unless you say, and I’d be _real_ quiet.”

Cordy crossed her arms, and then uncrossed them. “Well. Okay. But no getting sand all over me. And if anyone asks, you can’t say you’re my kid, because they’ll think I’m all old or something.”

Xander chewed on his lip and lifted one foot up behind him as though he was doing an impression of a stork. “I can be the neighbor boy,” he said at last.

“Do you have stuff to wear swimming?” Gunn asked him.

“Fred got me a swimsuit when she went shopping the last time,” Xander said. “I’ll show you!” He turned and stampeded up the stairs.

“I want to go too,” another voice declared, and then Spike was rounding the corner to give Cordy an expectant look.

“Oh! Oh,” she said, glancing at Gunn. Gunn just leaned his weight on his arms, waiting to see how she’d explain that one.

“Honey, you can’t go, because . . . remember how you have a sun allergy? That comes with the vampy side of you. Angel can’t go to the beach either.”

Spike scowled and pulled at the tear in the knee of his jeans. “Can’t you take us to a beach without any stupid sun?”

“I think we’re not on the same page on the whole concept of ‘beach’, here,” Cordy told him.

“I can watch Spike while you’re gone,” Wes said absently as he looked up from a book. “I’m planning to stay and catch up on my reading of some new articles about recently isolated dialects of the Klar’tech language.”

“Sounds fun,” Gunn said, his eyebrows raised.

“Yes,” Wes agreed.

“I got all my stuff,” Xander yelled as he bounded down the stairs. “I got a swimsuit, and a towel, and a bucket for sand, and a little jar for bugs, and a bag if there are any rocks that are cool, and --” He came up short when he saw Spike standing there, a glare fixed on his face.

“Oh.” Xander’s face fell. “I forgot Spike can’t go outside. I guess . . . I guess I shouldn’t go either.”

“Well, you don’t have to do everything together,” Cordy said. “And if Xander gets to go to the beach, Spike gets to stay here and play with all the toys both of you usually fight over, right?”

“Yeah. ‘Sides, the beach is stupid,” Spike said. He thrust his chin in the air. “Don’t care if I can’t go.”

Xander sucked in his lips, making a fish face, then let out a breath. “Really? Because I don’t have to. We could stay here, and --”

“Just go,” Spike said in an angry voice. “Wes and me, we’ve got plans.” He went over to stand at Wes’s desk and looked at the floor.

Wes looked up and smiled. “Yes, we should have a fine time here.”

“Okay,” Xander said doubtfully.

“Well, let’s get going,” Cordy said.

“I’m taking off too,” Gunn told Wes. “You okay?” he asked Spike.

“M’fine,” Spike insisted.

* * *

“Wes. Hey. Where is everybody?” Angel asked as he walked down the stairs into the lobby.

“You gave us all the afternoon off after we finished the Dougherty case, remember?” Wes answered.

“Oh. Right. Cordy and Gunn take off already?”

“Yes, and Fred went to run some errands earlier. Cordy took Xander with her to the beach.”

Angel glanced around. “Where’s Spike?”

Wes looked thoughtful as he took off his glasses. “You know, I’m not certain. He stayed by the desk for a short while after the others left, and I gave him some pens and paper to write with. But I must have gotten distracted by this fascinating essay, because I didn’t notice him leaving.”

“Huh.” Angel stilled. Then he started off in the direction of the basement.

“Where are you going?” Wes asked. Angel didn’t answer, so he rose and followed him.

When Wes got to the bottom of the stairs, he saw Angel crouched down in front of a red-eyed Spike, who was sitting on the floor. “Don’t care,” Spike mumbled as he dashed away tears from his eyes with small fists.

“Oh dear,” Wes said. “I’m terribly sorry, Spike. We should have come up with another fun activity for you.”

“’M having lots of fun right here,” Spike protested.

Wes glanced around the dark, dank space. “Well. Er. I can see that. But perhaps you’d like to watch a movie, or play some sort of board game? Just as a change of pace.”

Spike got to his feet and frowned before jamming his hands into his pockets. “Yeah. Okay.”

When Wes offered his hand, though, Spike brushed past him, running up the stairs shouting “I get to choose the movie!”

“All right,” Wes said with a sigh. “I don’t suppose you want to join us, Angel. Angel?”

But Angel seemed to have disappeared from the basement. Wesley trudged up the stairs, grimacing as he realized he’d very likely let himself in for having to watch some Harry Potter movie for the umpteenth time.

* * *

Spike watched the movie with his legs sticking straight out on the couch and his arms wrapped around himself. A few times he’d laughed at the humorous bits or looked nervous at the scary moments, but he was much quieter than normal, and whenever Wesley suggested getting snacks or drinks, he’d immediately refused.

When the film ended, Wes cleared his throat. “Well. Would you like me to fix you some blood?”

“No,” Spike said as he got to his feet. He looked around the room, and then kicked a small toy car that was near the couch. “Can play by myself. I don’t need you following me around.”

Wes sighed. “Spike, I know you’re upset . . .”

“Keep telling you I’m _not_ ,” Spike insisted, but his eyes shone, as though he were about to cry again. He bit his lip and looked away.

“Uh.” Angel stood in the doorway. “Spike. I think you left something down in the basement.”

Spike tilted his head to the side. “Didn’t bring anything.”

“Yeah.” Angel rubbed the back of his neck. “Still. There’s something of yours down there.”

Spike gave him a curious look, and then left to go see.

“How was the movie?” Angel asked.

“I believe I now know it by heart,” Wesley told him.

Just then they heard a piercing shriek. “He found it,” Angel said unnecessarily.

“Good lord, what did you do to him? He’s just a little boy, Angel,” Wes exclaimed as he rushed down to check.

When he arrived, he found Spike standing slack-jawed, looking around the room. There were two substantial sandboxes, each of them filled with gleaming white sand and beach toys, and a very large kiddie pool stationed between them in which several types of floats bobbed. A few lounge chairs had been set up around the periphery, and there were other things scattered here and there, towels on air mattresses, brightly colored beach balls, a partly-opened cooler giving a glimpse of the soda and ice cream bars inside, and lights all around the basement to show everything to full advantage.

Spike made an incoherent noise, and then tramped over to the nearest sandbox and hopped inside.

“How on earth did you do all of this so quickly?” Wes asked Angel.

“Called in a few favors,” Angel said uncomfortably.

“Will you help me built a castle?” Spike asked.

They looked at each other, then stepped gingerly into the sandbox.

* * *

They had made and knocked over two castles (“I’m Godzilla!” Spike had yelled both times) by the time Xander and Cordy came back to the hotel.

“Where is everyone?” Cordy called out from upstairs.

“Down here,” Spike called out happily. He’d changed into the Hawaiian print swim trunks and purple sunglasses that Angel had bought for him, and was splashing around in the pool.

Xander ran down the stairs and then stopped short. “Wow!” he said as he took in the surroundings with wide eyes.

“It’s a beach!” Spike yelled.

“It’s way better than the one we played at,” Xander said slowly. He took a step forward and looked around. “There weren’t any other kids there, Cordy read some magazine the whole time, and she wouldn’t buy me anything else after the first two hotdogs because of how I got sick at the mall that time when I ate too much. And after I got some shells, she said I couldn’t go swimming without her because of the underwear toe, and she didn’t want to go swimming because there was a boy who kept talking to her and she didn’t want to mess up her hair.”

“Who did all this?” Cordy asked as she walked down and took a look around.

Angel cleared his throat.

“Our beach is better than yours,” Spike told her.

“Would you like an ice cream?” Wes asked Xander.

Xander moved forward, then stopped. “Can I?” he asked Spike.

“ ‘Course you can,” Spike said with a grin. “Everyone except Cordy can,” he added with a sly look.

Cordy rolled her eyes. “Fine. I have to go to dinner anyway. I’ll see you all in the morning.”

Xander pulled off his t-shirt and waded into the pool.

“Is it really better, this beach?” Spike asked carelessly.

“Much better,” Xander grinned.

“They, uh . . . won’t remember I did this when we figure out how to change them back to adults, will they?” Angel asked Wes in a low voice.

Wes handed Xander his ice cream bar and then took the small ship that Spike had been trying to give him. “Oh, I don’t know. They just might.” He smiled widely. “And then Spike will be able to torment you about how thoughtful you were to him.”

“Great,” Angel grumbled just as Spike splashed him with a gleeful shriek.


End file.
